THE PRICE OF LONELINESS
by fantasyworld21293
Summary: Isabelle French is a lonely girl who has been beaten and locked up by her father and tormented by her older sister regina until one day her father makes a deal with the dark one changing her life forever. can two lonely souls find happiness in a world that has been nothing but cruel to them both? AU. I don't own anything Once Upon A Time related.
1. Chapter 1

A young girl no older than 7 played alone by the creek. Her hair was unkempt and her clothes dirty. She looked like a very happy child as she splashed around the creek without a care in the world.. it was hot out and the sun had been beaming all day and her father had made her clean the stables. The girl just meant to cool off for a second. She knew if she got caught her father would not be pleased with her. He was never pleased with her though.

She stepped out the creek and began gathering her things when she heard footsteps approaching. She jump and turned to see her elder sister. She was dressed so elegantly and her black hair was perfectly in place.

" I went to the stables for my lessons expecting u to be cleaning them like father told you to only to find you no longer there. Father won't be happy when he hears this" the elder sister said with a sickening grin.

"please don't tell papa. Please gina please. You know what will happen." the little girl cried and her sisters smile grew even bigger.

"I know exactly what will happen" she said as she turned to walk away back towards the castle as she left her little sister sobbing by the creek.

The little girl waited outside her fathers throne room for him to call her in for her punishment. She knew her father hated her. Her mother had died giving birth to her and her father had always blamed her for it. No matter what she did her father could always find something to punish her for.

"ISABELLE!" she heard her father scream and she gulped down her fear as she entered. She said nothing as she entered and gave him a curtsy never making eye contact. She knew he was angry.

" YOU DISOBEYED ME AND LEFT YOUR WORK TO GO PLAY IS THAT RIGHT GIRL?" he asked. She couldn't do anything but nod her head. "10 LASHES AND A WEEK IN THE DUNGEON" he bellowed as he nodded to one of the guards to take her away.

Two guards escorted her to the dungeon and they put her in the chains that hung from the ceiling and floor so she couldn't move when they beat her. She never tried to move or get away though never fought back just took her punishment. One of the guards pulled out a long whip and began lashing away at her back. Isabelle cried out when the whip hit her back with a loud crack. She could already feel blood dripping down her back as her older wounds were opened back up. The guard cracked the whip nine more times before releasing her from the chains and tossing her into the dungeon like trash. Tears streaked her face and blood soaked her back as she lay on the cold dungeon floor curled in a ball. She prayed every night that she could be free of her father and sister and their cruelty. She prayed that she would get far away and never return she wanted to see the world and go on an adventure and be brave, and one day hopefully find love. She hoped that one day this place would just be a distant memory. Those were her thoughts as she cried herself to sleep that night.

**12 years later**

Isabelle awoke on the dungeon floor. It had become her permanent residence over the years. Every night she had prayed and hoped for the same things, that someone would take her away from there and she would be free but no one ever came. It was always the same thing everyday over and over again. But this morning was different. When she woke she lifted her head to see her father standing over her. "get up girl come with me" he said as he grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet and dragged out the door and up the steps. He took her to where her room had been when she was just a wee little child and stopped out side the door. " It seems that our kingdom has become very poor the past few years. Your sister will be queen one day and I wont have her running a broke kingdom. I've made a deal with the dark one. He will make this the wealthiest kingdom in all the land. His gold for my child. He believes he is getting Regina but I will never allow that. He never specified in the deal which child so he will have to settle for you. The maids will be in in a minute to bathe and dress you to look appropriate for when he arrives. I will return in an hour to escort you to the main hall where he will be waiting for you. Do not mess this up for me do you understand?" Isabelle just nodded and walked into the room. A few moments later two maids walked in and began filling the large tub with water. Isabelle quickly stripped out of her worn dirty clothes and stepped into the bathtub. The women quickly washed her and combed her hair out in the tub before drying her off and putting her new dress on. When the women were finally done she turned to look in the mirror for the first time in at least 5 years. She didn't recognize the woman standing in front of her. The woman she saw looked beautiful and elegant and.. and a woman.. underneath all the dirt and grime lay a beautiful woman. She had creamy porcelain skin, radiant blue eyes, soft brown curls, perfect ruby red lips, and curves she never even knew she had. The dress she was wearing was something like the things she had seen Regina wear before she was sentenced to a life in the dungeons.

Isabelle walked slowly over to her old bed and ran her hands over the soft fabric of the blanket remembering a time when things weren't quite as bad. She could remember when she was just a little girl no older than four or five how Regina and she would play with their dolls. They had been close at one point and she never really knew why her sister had started to had her. She hoped that one day her sister would love her again like she did when she was just a little girl.

The two maids quietly exited the room and left Isabelle to her thoughts. She sat down on the edge of the bed as her head spun with thoughts. " the dark one" she thought. She remembered the stories she was told as a child about the magical deal maker. The beast the monster they would call him. He was said to be the cruelest man in all the land. Isabelle wondered what he would do to her. Would he beat her and keep her locked away like her father had done or worse? Would he force himself upon her or maybe even torture her with his magic? All sorts of horrible things were running through her mind. She wondered what use the dark one could possibly get from her. He could magic anything he wanted why would he agree to take her and in exchange give her fathers kingdom wealth.

She jumped when she heard a knock at the door and her father entered. He paused for a moment when he saw her but quickly regained himself.

" come with me" he said grabbing her arm "he's here". She took one last look at the room that use to be hers, it was simple with just a small bed a wardrobe with a mirror and a door that led to the bathroom. Her father led her back down a flight of stairs to the main floor and let her towards his throne room. He pushed the large doors open and walked in pulling Isabelle close behind him. As they entered she saw a small man with his back towards them facing the large fireplace. From what she could tell he had curly brown hair and dressed very finely. The man heard them approaching and slowly turned to face them. It was him she quickly noticed. The dark one. His skin was a golden green color, he had long sharp talons. He was different looking but he wasn't the hideous beast that had been described in the stories from when she was a child. She had expected him to be much larger and scarier, he was the dark one after all.

"ahhh this must be her" he hissed. As he looked at her he could see something different about her. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but he would figure it out. He did love a good puzzle. He couldn't help but notice that she was also very beautiful. He was glad he was getting this one instead of regina. He would have ended up turning her into a snail the first night. He smirked at the thought. But this one, this one was different. She didn't seem disgusted by the sight of him like most were in fact she looked at him with curiosity. " I am in need of a caretaker for my rather large estate." he said looking at her. "your father has offered you to me for gold to save his little kingdom" he giggled. " but you must also agree to the deal for it to be final." she was quiet for a moment and she knew she couldn't say no because if she did her father would do far worse to her than the dark one would. She looked at her father and then back to the imp. All she could do was nod. "speak up dearie I can't hear you. You must say it and remember it's forever dearie." he was so close to her now.

" I, I will go with you, forever." she said still looking directly at him. He had expected this to go differently. He was expecting her to beg and plead for a different deal, but she didn't she had just agreed without much hesitation. The thing that baffled him the most was the fact that she didn't really seem to be that frightened by him. Most people would look away in disgust or fear of him but this girl looked at him with only curiosity with her bright blue eyes that never left his.

"deal" he giggled his high pitch giggle.

"what about my gold where's it at?" maurice asked.

" your greedy little heart will get what you desire the second we leave your estate, and if she runs or tries to escape our deal will be broken and your kingdom will be in ruins."

" she won't she will be obedient, I promise you" he said giving her a stern look.

" very well then we should be on our way, wouldn't want to keep you from spending your gold." he said as he grabbed isabelle by the arm and spun her around so gracefully and walked out the door. She never once looked back at the place that would be her prison no more and they disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.


	2. Chapter 2

They appeared in a dark corridor out side of a door. She tried to take in her surroundings but it was dark. With a wave of his hand the dark one light the torches on the walls. They were standing in a hall way with lots of doors leading to who knew what. He opened the door to the room in front of them and with another wave of his hand the fire place inside the room light up with a bright warm fire.

"after you dearie" he said as he stepped aside to let her through the doorway. When she walked in side she saw a beautiful large four poster bed with a fire place and a small sitting area in front of it. The was a large wardrobe, a vanity and mirror. The room was far more beautiful than anything she ever had before. "this shall be your room. There is a bathroom through that door and the wardrobe is full of new dresses and attire for you. If they dont fit let me know and I will fix that. You can get yourself situated for the night and you will begin your duties in the morning. You may come down to the kitchen for dinner or I will send it up to you the choice is yours." she looked at his with a confused look on her face.

" this is mine?" she asked and he nodded looking at her curiously. " I , I, thank you" she said and for the first time he saw a smile spread across her beautiful face. He wondered why this girl would thank him for giving her a simple room when he had just taken her away from her family and everything she had ever known. How could she look at the monster he was and still smile at him as if he were a man. He wondered a lot of things about this girl and he was determined to figure her out.

"well, it's nothing , just a room dear. I'll leave you to your room, dinner will be done in half an hour. If you don't come down I will assume you wont be joining me and I will send your food up to you." he gave her a small bow as he turned leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

She wondered why he was being so kind to her. She had expected him to be cruel and vicious anything but kind. She didn't think anyone had ever been this nice to her. He had given her a room when she had expected no more than a dungeon. He had even given her a choice to either come down and join him or have her food sent to her room. She would join him she thought. It had been so long since she had joined anyone at a table to eat dinner. She walked over to the wardrobe and opened it. It was filled with all new dresses. She decided she would take a look at them later but she wanted to make it to the dinning area before dinner was done and she didn't have the slightest idea of how to get there. She opened the door and poked her head out. She saw that some of the torches were lit and began following the light and quickly realized he had made a trail for her using the torches. She made her way down the hall and made a left. She was now at the top of a large set of stone steps that spiraled down. She made her way down. When she reached the bottom she looked around and saw a rather large table and she wondered if anyone else lived here or if it was just them. The room was large with a beautiful chandelier hanging above the table. A long red rug lay under the table and thick matching red curtains covered the windows. For the dark castle it was beautiful from what she had seen so far.

" a little early aren't we dearie?" he asked and she jumped when she heard him. She was so busy taking in the surroundings of her new home that she didnt hear him walk through the doorway behind her. She turned to look at him and he was carrying two bowls. He placed a bowl at one end of the table and walked to the other end of the table and sat down. She wondered why he sat so far away but said nothing and took her seat. They sat in silence for a few moments and ate their porridge before she spoke.

" your home, from what i've seen is quite beautiful." she said from across the table. He was surprised when she spoke but he tried not to let her see. He hadn't expected her to join him much less try to spark conversation with him.

" it is your home too now. You may go any where in the castle you would like. Like I told you when we first met it's a rather large estate so it might take a while to explore and find your way around, but i'm sure you will manage. You may go anywhere you like and do what ever you please, within reason, as long as you have finished your work for the day and remain within these castle walls. Your work will not be hard. You will do light cleaning and cooking, you will bring me straw to my spinning wheel and you will bring me my tea twice a day. I'm sure you can manage those things as well." she nodded and it fell silent for another moment before she spoke again.

"why did you want me here?" she blurted out with out meaning to.

"excuse me?" he asked looking at her as if trying to look inside of her and read her every thought.

" I mean well, you could use magic to do all of those things couldn't you? Why did you need a caretaker? And I don't understand why you are being kind to me. I thought you would have locked me up, beaten me, or maybe even starved me. I'm sorry I shouldn't have spoken. Father always told me never to speak unless spoken to. I apologize sir.

" No, don't apologize. I am not your father and you may speak whenever you please dear." he could tell that she had been raised much differently than her sister and began to wonder how much differently. He had made countless deals with her family and he had seen regina numerous times but of all the times he had been to her fathers castle he had never seen this girl before. His magic could tell him that this was in fact Maurice's daughter that much he knew to be true or else the deal would not have been able to have been struck. "why exactly would you think I would lock you up or beat you? I'm certainly not going to starve you as you can see." he said gesturing to her bowl of porridge. " I may be a monster dearie, but I'm certainly not as cruel as the stories say." he said looking away. Maybe this girl was scared of him after all and believed all the stories about him. Why else would she think he would be so cruel to her?

" you're not a monster." she said very matter factually. " at least I don't think so" she gave him another one of those warm smiles that made his heart jump for some reason. He just couldn't figure her out just yet.

"eat" he said " before it get cold."

"but you never answered my first question. Why did you want me here?" she asked

" there are certain things magic can't do like dust, and it doesn't know how I take my tea. Hopefully you will get it after a few tries." she knew that there was something more as to why he wanted her there but she wouldn't push, not tonight anyway. " now eat dearie before it gets cold" he said gesturing to the bowl across the table from himself. For the rest of their meal they sat in silence as they ate. Every few moments he would catch himself staring at her and look away quickly but his eyes always made their way back to her. He wasn't being very conspicuous about it either. She could feel his eyes on her but every time she would look his way he would look away quickly. She held back the urge to smile at his obvious staring. When they finished their food he stood and began gathering the few dishes on the table. Isabelle quickly got up and closed the distance between them and placed her hand on top of his. He jump as if the action had startled him.

"i'll get those" she said taking the dishes from his cold hands. " after all I should be the one doing it any ways. You were nice enough to prepare dinner for us tonight." she gave him a quick smile and began gathering the rest of the dishes. " I um, I'm afraid I'm not much of a cook, but I assure you I will learn fast. Do you maybe have some cookery books around that I can learn from sir?" she asked and she looked up to notice he was still staring at her with that look upon his face and she wondered what he was thinking. Finally he snapped out of it.

" I uh, yes, yes, there is a library on the second floor. It should have everything you are looking for dear. I should get back to my wheel. Do you remember how to find your room or should I light the torches again?"

" I think I can remember but to be on the safe side could you light them please."

" as you wish" he said with a flourish of his hand.

" thank you sir, for everything" she said as she turned to walk throught the door that she was assuming to be the kitchen. She left him standing in the dining area alone as he stared at her in amazement as she walked away.


	3. Chapter 3

Isabelle made her way back to her room following the torches that had been lit for her. It hadn't taken her long to wash the few dishes that they had used during dinner. She had a little time to look around while she was in the kitchen and was able to locate where some of the cleaning supplies were. She could find the rest in the morning she thought. She came to the last lit torch and and a smile came to her face once more as she thought about the room she was about to enter. The beautiful room that he had given her with a wardrobe full of new dresses, a warm fireplace, and the large four poster bed. It had been years since she was able to sleep in a real bed, instead of the stone slab in her old dungeon. She opened the door and walked inside. The fire in the fireplace was still burning, not as brightly but still enough to keep the room warm. She walked over to the wardrobe and opened it. She began looking through and saw that there were dresses, night gowns, stockings and everything else she needed. She looked over to the door on her left that he said was the bathroom. She had a bath earlier that day but now for the first time ever she had complete privacy. When she was a child the maids would always help her bathe and when she got a little older and was sentenced to the dungeon a few guards would come in and throw buckets of cold water on her once a week which passed for a bath. All she wanted to do now was soak in a warm bath. She grabbed one of the thin silk nightgowns that he had given to her and walked towards the bathroom. She reached the door and turned the knob. The bathroom had a large golden tub right in the middle. There were towels stacked up neatly in the corner. She ran her hand over the golden edge of the tub and she knew it would take quite a few pots of boiling water to fill it. She walked to the corner and grabbed a towel. When she turned around the tub was filled. " he must have the tubs enchanted" she said to herself. She was glad because now she wouldn't have to go to the kitchen to boil some water for the tub. She wondered what else around the castle worked by magic. She quickly stripped herself of her clothes and stepped into the warm bath. For the first time in a long time she felt comfortable and safe. She thought it funny that she felt safer in the home of the dark one than she ever did in her fathers castle. She didn't understand why the stories about him made him out to be such a cruel horrible beast. She leaned back and winced in pain as the still fresh cuts on her back from yesterdays beating touched the cool golden surface of the tub. She tried to relax a little but her thoughts drifted back to the dungeon the dungeon she spent so many lonely nights in. she wondered if it was coincidence or fate that he had come for her just as she was about to completely give up and abandon all hope of ever being freed that place. Every night she had prayed for the same thing, for someone to rescue her and take her away. Had the gods finally answered her prayers after so many years? She hoped that they had. She hoped she wouldn't displease him and get sent back home to her father, but he had said the deal was forever. She would do her best to do what ever he asked of her, because being the caretaker of the home of the dark one was a far better fate than being back home in her own fathers kingdom.

Isabelle relaxed in the tub for a few more minutes before standing up and grabbing the towel from the side of the tub and wrapping it around herself. She stepped out and the tub drained itself of water. " what a mysterious place" she thought to herself. She quickly dressed before she got too cold. The nightgown, she noticed was a bit too big for her small frame. She hoped her dresses fit her well because she didn't want to bother him with something as small as taking in a few of her dresses even though he had said if they didn't fit to let him know. She decided that if her dresses didn't fit she would tell him. She wasn't worried about a few nightgowns.

She combed her hair and tied it back with a ribbon and headed for the door. As she reentered her room she noticed that the fire had begun to die down so she added a couple more pieces of wood that were stacked neatly by the fire place and stoked the fire back to life. She looked over to the large bed and could only imagine the comfort that lay within it. She knew it wouldn't be long before she fell asleep. It had been a long day and she still had a lot to take in. her entire life had changed with one simple deal. She had woken up this morning a prisoner in her own fathers castle and tonight she would go to bed in her own room clean warm comfortable and safe. She walked towards the bed and pulled back the thick blanket and crawled into bed. She scooted over to the middle and rolled over on her side pulling the covers up to her chin. She barely had time to think about the day ahead of her before she had fallen fast asleep.

The dark one sat at his wheel spinning as he thought about his new little caretaker. She was an odd young thing, he thought. She should hate him and call him a monster and a beast. He had taken her away from her entire life, but instead of hating him she was thanking him. Why? Why would she thank him? What kind of game was she playing, he thought to himself. She must be playing him, her sister would. The very thought of Regina made him roll his eyes in annoyance. Yes Regina loved to play games who was to say her younger sister wasn't the same. On the other hand he was usually able to tell when someone was lying and the girls words had seemed genuine. She had told him he wasn't a monster, and she kept giving him those little smiles that made his heart flutter a bit, and when she touched his hand it felt like time stopped for just a moment.

He pounded his fists against his knees and kicked the basket of straw as he stood up and began pacing back and fourth around his study. He couldn't think of the girl like that. She was beautiful and he was a monster. Who could ever look past his golden green skin? Certainly not the beautiful young girl that he had acquired in a deal and taken away from her home. He continued to pace as he thought about weather to distance himself from her or not. He wanted so badly to figure her out and put the pieces of the puzzle together, because something about this girl just didn't fit. At the same time it was hard for him to be around her and focus. He had just met her and already she had some sort of hold on him. No, he wouldn't distance himself, not just yet. He would figure her out and once he did she wouldn't have this hold on him any longer and he will be able to function correctly when in her presence. Perhaps he would invite her to join him for his tea tomorrow. Maybe then he will see beneath the layers. He almost always knew what people were thinking, he was always one step ahead of everything, but he couldn't tell what she was thinking and it drove him mad.

He walked to the liquor cabinet in the corner of the room and pulled out a bottle of brandy and pour a small glass. He held the glass up and looked at the amber liquid before taking a swig to calm his nerves. Tomorrow he will show her the basics, like the laundry room and where the cleaning supplies are kept , the pantry that was enchanted to stay stocked with food, and most importantly how he took his tea. Tomorrow would be a long day he thought. How on earth could he get any sleep now knowing he would be spending at least half the day in her presence. He went back to his spinning wheel and began spinning again. He hoped that spinning would take his mind off of her but it didn't so kept on spinning.


End file.
